Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault

Update Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault
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Israel’s army said on the social platform X that it would act with “extreme force” against militants. (AFP)
Update Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault
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Displaced Palestinians, who fled their house due to Israeli strikes, shelter at a tent camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Update Palestinians transport an injured man pulled from the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike in the center of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 5, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Palestinians transport an injured man pulled from the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike in the center of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 5, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Update Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault
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Palestinians transport an injured man pulled from the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike in the center of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 5, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Update Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault
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Mourners react near to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, at Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 5, 2024. (REUTERS)
Update Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault
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Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, at Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 5, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 06 May 2024
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Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault

Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza’s Rafah ahead of an expected assault
  • EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell condemn Israel’s evacuation order
  • Israeli leaders have repeatedly said the invasion is necessary to defeat Hamas

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah to start evacuating from the area, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.
The announcement complicates last-ditch efforts by international mediators, including the director of the CIA, to broker a ceasefire. The militant Hamas group and Qatar, a key mediator, have warned that invading Rafah — along the border with Egypt — could derail the talks, and the United States has repeatedly urged Israel against the invasion.
However, Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said the invasion is necessary to defeat the Islamic militant group.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi. He said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city. But after Oct. 7 and the unprecedented attack on southern Israel by Hamas, Israel did not formally announce the launch of a ground invasion that continues to this day.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on Monday condemned Israel’s order for Palestinians living in eastern Rafah to flee the Gazan city.
“Israel’s evacuation orders to civilians in Rafah portend the worst: more war and famine. It is unacceptable. Israel must renounce to a ground offensive,” Borrell said in a social media post.
Overnight, Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, told US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin that Israel had no choice but to act in Rafah. On Sunday, Hamas carried out a deadly rocket attack from the Rafah area that killed four Israeli soldiers.
Shoshani said Israel published a map of the evacuation area, and that orders were being issued through air-dropped leaflets, text messages and radio broadcasts. He said Israel has expanded humanitarian aid into Muwasi, including field hospitals, tents, food and water.
Israel’s army said on the social platform X that it would act with “extreme force” against militants, and urged the population to evacuate immediately for their safety.
Israel’s plan to invade Rafah has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there.
About 1.4 million Palestinians — more than half of Gaza’s population — are jammed into the city and its surroundings. Most of them fled their homes elsewhere in the territory to escape Israel’s onslaught and now face another wrenching move or the danger of staying under a new assault. They live in densely packed tent camps, overflowing UN shelters or crowded apartments, and are dependent on international aid for food, with sanitation systems and medical facilities infrastructure crippled.
The UN agency that has helped millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for decades, known as UNRWA, warned Monday of devastating consequences of a Rafah offensive, including more civilian suffering and deaths. The agency said it would not leave but stay in Rafah as long as possible to continue providing lifesaving assistance.
Egypt’s Rafah crossing, a main transfer point for aid going into Gaza, lies in the evacuation zone. The crossing remained open on Monday after the Israeli order.
But even as the US, Egypt and Qatar have pushed for a ceasefire agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated last week that the military would move on the city “with or without a deal” to achieve its goal of destroying the Hamas militant group.
On Monday, Netanyahu accused Hamas of “torpedoing” the hostage deal and not budging from its “extreme demands” while vowing to stop the militants from retaking control of Gaza. In a fiery speech Sunday evening marking the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day, he rejected international pressure to halt the war, saying that “if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”
A Hamas official told The Associated Press that Israel is trying to pressure the group into making concessions on the ceasefire, but that it won’t change its demands. Hamas wants a full end to the war, withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the eventual reconstruction of the strip in exchange for the Israeli hostages held by the militants.
Shoshani would not say whether the upcoming Rafah operation is a response to Sunday’s attack by Hamas that forced Israel’s key border crossing for aid to close. He said it would not affect how much aid enters Gaza as other crossing points remain operational.
He wouldn’t comment, however, on US warnings not to invade and wasn’t clear on whether Monday’s evacuation order was coordinated with Egypt.
Egypt, a strategic partner of Israel, has said that an Israeli military seizure of the Gaza-Egypt border — which is supposed to be demilitarized — or any move to push Palestinians into Egypt would threaten its four-decade-old peace treaty with Israel.
In Rafah, people received flyers Monday morning in Arabic detailing which neighborhood blocks needed to leave and where humanitarian zones had expanded to. The flyers said that aid services would spread from Deir al Balah in the north to the center of Khan Younis city in the middle of the Gaza Strip.
“Anyone found near (militant) organizations endangers themselves and their family members. For your safety, the (army) urges you to evacuate immediately to the expanded humanitarian area”, it read.
Palestinians in Rafah said people gathered to discuss their options after receiving the flyers. Most said they did not want to move alone and preferred to travel in groups.
“So many people here are displaced and now they have to move again, but no one will stay here it’s not safe,” Nidal Alzaanin told The Associated Press by phone.
A father of five, Alzaanin works for an international aid group and was displaced to Rafah from Beit Hanoun in the north at the start of the war. He said people are concerned since Israeli troops shot at Palestinians as they moved during previous evacuation orders.
Alzaanin said he has packed his documents and bags but will wait 24 hours to see what others do before relocating. He said he has a friend in Khan Younis whom he hopes can pitch a tent for his family.
But some people say they’re too tired and fed up of months of devastation to flee again.
Sahar Abu Nahel was displaced to Rafah with 20 of her family, her husband is being held by Israel, her son-in-law in missing, she said.
“Where am I going to go? I have no money or anything. I am seriously tired as are (my) children,” she said wiping tears from her cheeks. “Maybe its more honorable for us to die. We are being humiliated,” she said.


Israeli FM: ‘No justification’ for ICC to take steps against Israeli leaders

Israeli FM: ‘No justification’ for ICC to take steps against Israeli leaders
Updated 20 sec ago
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Israeli FM: ‘No justification’ for ICC to take steps against Israeli leaders

Israeli FM: ‘No justification’ for ICC to take steps against Israeli leaders
PRAGUE: Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday that the ICC had “no justification” for issuing arrests warrants for Israeli leaders, in a joint press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
Saar told Reuters Israel has appealed the decision and that it sets a dangerous precedent.
The foreign minister also said Israel would finish the war in Gaza when it “achieves its objectives” of returning hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza and ensuring the Iranian-backed group no longer controls the strip. Saar said Israel does not intend to control civilian life in Gaza and that he believes peace is “inevitable” but can’t be based on “illusions.”

Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025

Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025
Updated 28 November 2024
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Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025

Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025
  • The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him

ROME: Pope Francis said on Thursday he planned to visit Turkiye’s Iznik next year for the anniversary of the first council of the Christian Church, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The early centuries of Christianity were marked by debate about how Jesus could be both God and man, and the Church decided on the issue at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
“During the Holy Year, we will also have the opportunity to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. I plan to go there,” the pontiff was quoted as saying at a theological committee event.
The city, now known as Iznik, is in western Anatolia, some 150km southeast of Istanbul.
The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip and the spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, had said the two men would celebrate the important recurrence together but no official confirmation had been made yet.
Despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him because of health issues, Francis, who will turn 88 on Dec. 17, completed in September a 12-day tour across Asia, the longest of his 11-year papacy.


Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations

Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations
Updated 28 November 2024
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Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations

Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations
  • Adani Group holds a 70 percent stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country
  • US last week accused Adani Group of being part of scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure contracts, misleading US investors 

HYDERABAD, India: Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue to invest in the country, Israel’s envoy to India said on Thursday, affirming the nation’s support for the ports-to-media conglomerate whose billionaire founder is facing bribery allegations in the United States.

“We wish Adani and all Indian companies continue to invest in Israel,” Ambassador Reuven Azar said in an interview with Reuters, adding that allegations by US authorities were “not something that’s problematic” from Israel’s point of view.

The Adani Group holds a 70% stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country, including to produce military drones and plans for the manufacture of commercial semiconductors.

US authorities last week accused Gautam Adani, his nephew, and Adani Green’s managing director of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts and misleading US investors during fund raising efforts there.

Adani Group has denied all the accusations, calling them “baseless.”

Still, shares and bonds of Adani companies were hammered last week and some partners began to review joint projects.

“I am sure Adani Group will resolve its problems,” Azar said on the sidelines of an event in the southern city of Hyderabad.


Lebanon to hold parliament session on Jan. 9 to elect president

Lebanon to hold parliament session on Jan. 9 to elect president
Updated 28 November 2024
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Lebanon to hold parliament session on Jan. 9 to elect president

Lebanon to hold parliament session on Jan. 9 to elect president
  • State news agency: ‘Speaker Nabih Berri called a parliament session to elect a president of the republic on January 9’

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament will hold a session in January to elect a new president, official media reported on Thursday, a day after an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire began and following more than two years of presidential vacuum.
“Speaker Nabih Berri called a parliament session to elect a president of the republic on January 9,” the official National News Agency reported.


Israel says ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon violated

Israel says ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon violated
Updated 51 min 1 sec ago
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Israel says ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon violated

Israel says ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon violated
  • Lebanese security sources and state media report tank fire struck Markaba, Wazzani and Kfarchouba
  • Lebanon’s military deployed troops and tanks across the country’s south on Thursday

BEIRUT: Israel’s military announced on Thursday that it had detected the presence of suspects in several areas of southern Lebanon, calling it a violation of the ceasefire with Hezbollah.

At least two people were wounded by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon, state media reported. 

Earlier on Thursday Israeli tank fire targeted three towns along Lebanon’s southeastern border with Israel, according to Lebanese security sources and state media. The strikes came a day after the ceasefire, which prohibits “offensive military operations,” had officially taken effect.

The tank fire hit Markaba, Wazzani, and Kfarchouba, all located within two kilometers of the Blue Line that marks the border between Lebanon and Israel. One security source reported that two people were wounded in Markaba.

A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the US and France, intended to allow people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting.

But managing the returns have been complicated. Israeli troops remain stationed within Lebanese territory in towns along the border, and on Thursday morning the Israeli military urged residents of towns along the border strip not to return yet for their own safety.

The three towns hit on Thursday morning lie within that strip.

There was no immediate comment on the tank rounds from Hezbollah or Israel, who had been fighting for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war.

Lebanon’s military deployed troops and tanks across the country’s south on Thursday as a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war largely held for a second day.

A Lebanese army source said its forces were “conducting patrols and setting up checkpoints” south of the Litani River without advancing into areas where Israeli forces were still present.

In the border village of Qlaaya, residents threw rice and flowers to celebrate the arrival of Lebanese soldiers.

“We only want the Lebanese army,” chanted the residents of the Christian-majority village, as they clapped and cheered for the troops and waved the Lebanese red, white and green flag.

Since the ceasefire took effect on Wednesday, tens of thousands of Lebanese who fled their homes have headed back to their towns and villages, only to find scenes of devastation.

“Despite all the destruction and the sorrow, we are happy to be back,” said Umm Mohammed Bzeih, a widow who fled with her four children from the southern village of Zibqin two months ago.

“I feel as if our souls have returned,” she said, visibly exhausted as she swept up the shattered glass and pieces of stones that carpeted the floor.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said his group was cooperating on the army’s deployment in the south.

There is “full cooperation” with the Lebanese state in strengthening the army’s deployment, he said, adding the group had “no visible weapons or bases” but “nobody can make residents leave their villages.”

The agreement, a rare diplomatic feat in a region racked by conflict, ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in years. But Israel is still fighting its other arch foe, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.

Under the ceasefire terms, Israeli forces can take up to 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the military not to allow residents back to villages near the border.

Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, the top interlocutor for Lebanon in negotiating the deal, had said on Wednesday that residents could return home.